The Sims 3: Seasons is the eighth expansion pack for The Sims 3. After initial rumors, EA confirmed the existence of the pack through an online posting on their website on August 1, 2012, followed by a Summer Showcase on August 2, 2012, which officially confirmed the pack and released the first official trailer for it.[1]Seasons was released on November 13, 2012 in North America and on November 16, 2012 in Europe.

Contents

Let your Sims swim in the ocean on a hot summer day, bob for apples in the autumn leaves, test their snowboarding skill on the half pipe, or welcome spring showers with a walk in the rain and a colorful umbrella. All-new activities, like soccer, big seasonal festivals, and celebrations, bring the spirit of each season to life. Your Sims can pucker up at the kissing booth at the spring festival, or see what Halloween surprises await in the haunted house. Dress for the weather with seasonal fashions from sun dresses to raincoats to snow gear. With new foods, décor, and weather effects, your Sims can enjoy the bounty and beauty of the ever-changing seasons and play with life like never before!

Delight your Sims with new activities for every season: Whether building an intimate igloo, carving a scary Jack o’ lantern, taking a plunge off the diving board, or setting off all-new fireworks, your Sim can always find new things to do throughout the year.

Join the fun with seasonal festivals: Sims can get in a snowball fight at the annual winter festival, get their faces painted at the summer festival, whoop it up at the spring dance, or bob for apples during the fall festival.

Experience the joys and challenges of changing weather: New weather effects and Sim reactions capture the power and beauty of nature! Sims can get a tan, be struck by lightning, or catch a cold!

Bring the outdoors inside: Your Sim can now learn the recipe for pumpkin pie, or style their home with new furniture and décor. There are a host of new items to ring in each season. Get a tanning booth in time for summer or bring in the holiday spirit with house lights and decorations.

Dress for the weather: Outfit your Sim in new styles for the season, including snow gear, wetsuits, raincoats, umbrellas, and new Halloween costumes!

Welcome mysterious visitors: New weather patterns aren't the only things appearing in the sky! Befriend an alien visitor and use their UFO to abduct a neighbor, invade a community lot or travel to the stars.

Relax in style in the Limited Edition Ice Lounge: Let your Sims entertain in style with the elegant ice bar, bar stool and pub table. Items like the ice dining chair, dining table, coffee table, sofa and loveseat can add distinctive style to any room in your Sims’ home. The ice lounge also includes architectural elements to add a subtle touch of style to your Sims’ buildings.

Holidays: You can celebrate spooky day in the fall, leisure day in the summer, love day in the spring, and snowflake day in the winter.

Your Sims can even brave the icy waters during winter in search of the Polar Bear Club moodlet.

The ocean will freeze over when the temperature drops low enough in the winter, preventing Sims swimming.

Sims will be able to swim in a body of water even if it has unroutable paint laid down beneath the water. There’s a different paint type that can be used around the edges of the world to block the camera from going too far which they won’t be able to swim beyond that point.

As long as the ocean, river or lake is not on a residential or community lot, has a gradual slope into the water, and your Sims can walk to the coast, then they can dive right in![4]

Sims can gain their Athletic skill but lose energy, may cause fatigue.[3]

Sims cannot drown when swimming. (Technically, this is due to gravestones' inability to be spawned outside of lots.)[3]

Diving boards are added in the game, which allows Sims to dive into swimming pools.

Sims can enter the pool by either making a big splash or diving in gracefully. dive. - stunt moves

Sims can try to drench other Sims when diving into the pool.

The larger the Sim, the bigger the splash the Sim will make in the pool.

Snowboarding

Sims can snowboard on half pipes.

Sims can snowboard throughout the year as artificial snow will be on the half-pipes when snow isn't on the ground.

Description: Your Sims can head to the winter festival or plop down the snowboard half-pipe in their very own backyards to start learning how to snowboard! Practice makes perfect; the more time your Sims spend on the half-pipe, the better they will get, and the more EPIC the tricks they’ll be able to do!

Illness

Sims' health can be affected. Examples are:

Sims can get sun burned when staying out in the sun for too long

They can get struck by lightning during a storm

They can catch a cold or even the flu

They can freeze, but other Sims can warm them up

Sims can get seasonal allergies, but they can get vaccinated. They can also get a flu shot which is a cure for the flu.[3]

Children and teens will not automatically get the day off when sick, however, their grades won't suffer if they choose to stay home that day.

Sims who work now get the option to call in sick or fake it.

Weather and Seasons Control Options

Seasons and weather are completely controllable via a brand new panel in the options menu.

Seasons are a week long (7 days) each by default. The length can be changed from 3 days per season to 28 days per season.[6] There is an option to set a season permanently in a save file.[7]

Seasons and weather options are not controlled per-world. They are controlled per-save file.

Season symbol showing what season is it. Can also check days till next season there.

Temperature (can be set into Celsius or Fahrenheit)

Gardening can be affected by the weather.

"Rain will actually water your plants but you will still have to remove weeds from them. If the world gets too cold they will frost over and go into hibernation. When plants go into hibernation, they will be immune to dying."[2]

When water freezes at cold temperature, fishing is not available. Fish in the pond will disappear until the ice breaks.[3]

Seasons

Seasons are a week long by default.

Spring

During Spring, Love Day occurs, a holiday based on Valentine's Day.

There are occasional drizzles, fogs, heavy showers and lightnings expected during Spring.

"The trees will start to re-grow their leaves, and you’ll see our new collectable wildflowers sprouting throughout the town."

All of the functionality of the lot changing its appearance throughout the world is controlled by a Seasonal Lot Marker object that’s available in the buydebug section at Buy mode.

The Seasonal Lot Marker opens up many possibilities for advanced builders who want their lots to change throughout the year.

The Seasonal Lot marker "will allow you to change what objects appear on a lot in any season; but it does not allow you to update things on lots that are controlled by build mode tools, such as walls or terrain height. You’ll even be able to use the Seasonal Lot Marker to update other community or residential lots to change throughout the year." [citation needed]

To create a festival lot, the lot can change its type to Festival Grounds from Edit Town mode. This will place the marker automatically.[6]

Appropriate looking clothing from base game, expansions, stuff packs, and the store will be updated to be selectable as outerwear to keep your Sims warm.[6]

Custom Content can be used as outerwear if the creator tags it with "outerwear".

Sims will be affected on wearing their outerwear depending on the four seasons.

On Winter, Sims will automatically change into their Outerwear.

The type of clothes Sims are wearing does not affect the suntan pattern. Their skin will get slightly darker when they get a suntan. After it wears out their skin color turns back to the original color.

A Sim can create their own online dating profile on their computer/laptop and fill in their zodiac sign, traits, favorites and much more. They can also fake them out, but when meeting with their love interest, they may react badly to the Sim.

They can browse through profiles, send and check messages.

They can also send a date request to another Sim. They will get a reply from them after a few days.[17]

Sims will have a natural talent in seasonal activities like snowboarding, ice skating, soccer, snowball/water balloon fights and much more.

Uses 10,000 lifetime happiness points

New skills

Snowboarding

"Your Sims can head to the winter festival or plop down the snowboard half-pipe in their very own backyards to start learning how to snowboard! Practice makes perfect; the more time your Sims spend on the half-pipe, the better they will get, and the more EPIC the tricks they’ll be able to do!"

Soccer

"That’s right--you’ve been asking for it for a while, and now it’s finally here! Your Sim can now compete in an epic shootout against another Sim, practice on their own, or even take part in a tournament! Just place the brand new soccer goals in Buy Mode, and watch any open space turn into a soccer pitch!"

But even the tanning booth isn't a foolproof way to get an even tan. Results will vary from the successful to the downright hilarious, depending on whether malfunctions or pranking kids are involved.[4]

Hot Dog Eating Contest Booth

Pie Eating Contest Booth

Diving boards

Cannonballs and swan dives (Stunts) are possible.

Inflatable pool rafts/floats

Sims can use them in pools and the ocean.

Umbrellas

"With water-proof umbrellas in hand, Sims can walk, chat and even run outside without getting wet. Not only can you change the color and patterns on the umbrella, you can even upgrade them to glow!"[6]

Sims will automatically use them when it starts raining, or if they walk outside into the rain.[6]

Trees are either deciduous or evergreen; some will change color in the fall and lose their leaves and others will not. The store team will support Seasons content as well, so any trees that they release that should lose leaves will be updated to work properly.

Children and teenagers still have to attend school year-round but they do not need to if a snow storm rolls through town or school is cancelled for Snowflake Day.

There is a Weather Channel, the first channel added in since the base game. Sims can check the forecast at the channel.

Limited Edition - Original Edition with an exclusive lot, the Ice Lounge, and some exclusive objects

The Sims™ 3 Seasons Limited Edition

Relax in Style in the Ice LoungePre-order The Sims 3 Seasons Limited Edition and receive the exclusive Ice Lounge community lot. This sleek and elegant social club can be placed in any world from The Sims 3, and is available in all seasons. It is a great place for your Sims to chill on a hot day or get out of the winter wind. The venue includes new ice objects that can be placed on any lot to make your Sims’ lives just a bit cooler.

After the announcement of this pack, the first live chat showcasing this pack was announced and it was to be shown after the second Supernatural live chat. During the live chat, it showed the aspects of Spring and the festival during the season. A Q&A session was also held.

A second live chat of the pack was announced on August 8, 2012 and was broadcast on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 5pm Central European Time (8am Pacific Summer Time) from gamescom 2012 in Cologne, Germany.[21] It had showcase the aspects of Summer and a look at a variety of fun features that come with the change of seasons.

During the Maxis Live Broadcast broadcast on October 9, 2012 at 10am PST, it showcased on aliens. Before the broadcast, SimGuruHydra asked the community in the forums to post questions for Q&A session.[22]

The forth live chat was on Thursday, November 8, 2012 at 10am PST. It focused on the Winter season.[23]

Embargo

There was an embargo on information about Aliens which started on October 9, 2012 at 1pm PST.[24]